Quick clutch question

[grinder]

Hiya fellow FC owners

over the last few weeks , i have been having issues with the cab ( white one , not the one with the knackered auto box ! LOL )

Its really hard to get into gear , to the extent of trying to snap off the gear stick trying to get 1st

i told the better half to take it for a spin , but she returned home within minutes saying that she couldnt get first

i managed to get 1st and took it for a spin around the block , but it was really hard getting the gears

Now i though that its cause its been stood over winter , but the fact that you can change gear put that out of my mind

I went for a 20-30 mile spin on sunday in it , and it was all fine and dandy , but about 5 miles from home , it started playing up again and really really hard to get it into gears

to the point of setting off in second from the lights etc..

Reverse was also a pain to find when i got home..

Now the clutch is right at the bottom ( if that makes sense ) hardly any travel before it engages , so im assuming its not opening enough to change gear

Does this sound like a shot at clutch ( although i would assume that when the clutch is on the way out , you would have to lift the pedal to the top nearly ? )

I have checked the fluid and its full ( ohh yes its full )

Im not overly up to speed on clutches hence my question !??!

Not sure if this is part of it , but you cant do quick changes either , you have to really press the clutch and practically force it thru the gears - there will be no drag runs at this rate

Is there anything i can check for , does it sound like the clutch , or could the gear box oil be getting old

Im sure the prev owner said he changed both the master and slave cylinders , so i dont think thats it

And the confusing bit , it got worse the more i drove it .. so not sure what thats a sign off

Im not having much luck with "transmissions" on these cars

i even made sure that the mat wasnt under the pedal and not letting me press it far enough , but its out of the way , so thats fine

It just feels like your trying to change gear with the clutch pressed only 70% , when i bought the car , i was taken out for a test drive and it was fine , no issues ( although the owner might have been used to it )

any ideas greatly welcomed

Stu

[flatout]

Sounds like your presure plate is feckt,

[grinder]

thats something i didnt want to hear

[Will66]

It sounds to me like pressing the pedal isn\'t moving the clutch as it should.

That sounds like a master/slave cylinder problem or a clutch actuator arm or something.

[m1tch]

How old is the clutch? does it slip when it is in gear? Might just need to bleed the clutch line

[BinoX]

When you push the pedal down, see if you can see the clutch slave working as it should (attached to the bell housing on the gearbox)

I had this happen to my FC (shortly after I\'d finished my rebuild typically) and it turned out that the rod that pushes the clutch master had punched it\'s way through the little cup that it sits in (stupid plastic), but not enough to cause a visible leak. The only real visible symptom was a non-moving (or barely moving on occasion) clutch slave... Got a new one from MRP within a couple of days and it\'s been working a treat since

[grinder]

ok , there is no clutch slip at all , it holds all the gears up to the red line .. even up steep hills - so im ruling that out of the question

I have checked and when you press the clutch the slave moves OK ( thing is , you need two people to check this and its not always possible )

the slave is in such a stupid place , its very arkward to see and even get to

im wondering if the pedal is out of adjustment , so even at full travel , you are not getting full travel , but i would assume this would happen all the time and not just every so often

im SURE the prev owner said he changed both the master and slave .. but i need to confirm this ( when im back at work )

[grinder]

OK , did some digging and found this

http://www.mazdarotaryclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=72122

So looks like they both have been changed

[m1tch]

OK , did some digging and found this

http://www.mazdarotaryclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=72122

So looks like they both have been changed

The location isn\'t as bad as some of the Volvo V40 engines where (due to some of the engines being french) the clutch slave clylinder is INSIDE the bell housing, you have to remove the whole gearbox to get to it lol

[richrx]

Hi stu

Didn\'t realise you were having issues

Have you tried pumping the clutch pedal like 5-10 times and see if you get a gear change in??

Does the pedal loose pressure and refuse to \'spring\' back??

I put a used master and slave cylinder in... So there is a chance it could still be this.

Richard

[grinder]

the pedal action seems just fine to be honest , just wont go into first sometimes

it springs back just fine .. i have had a RX7 with that issue in the past .. soon learnt to pull the pedal back up with my foot ! LOL

[Ricco_04]

I dont know clutch or gearbox very well so hopefully wide of the mark but isnt struggling to get into gear syncro\'s on the box itself?

[Will66]

Could be selectors rather than synchro rings, they\'d grind if they were badly worn.

[grinder]

Hummmmmmmmmmmmmm not sounding good is it

Not 100% sure what to check first to be honest

might see if i can bleed it and see what that does , and also try adjusting the pedal

after that .. who knows eh ?!?!?

[Brett]

I\'d say bleed it first, take it out for half an hour of mixed driving and see where you are.

Have you checked the oil in box btw?  If it\'s only doing this once its got some miles (ie heat) on it then maybe theres an internal issue...